SoundShade Review

Depending on how you think and work, ambient sound can make all the difference in enabling you to focus and relax. If that’s you then SoundShade is a pretty inexpensive way to kick back and focus. It’ll take moments to set up and could make all the difference to your productivity levels.

SoundShade is simply laid out. The main screen consists of a series of icons, representing different noises, with a grid showing you that the nearer you move them to the center, the more distinctive a sound they make.

A few choices are at your disposal with 8 templates to choose from, each representing a different theme, as well as the option to combine any of the 30 individual sounds in whatever way you want. There’s a mixture of bird sounds ocean breezes, rain, and things themed around a Japanese garden. It’s all quite flexibly laid out. Bear in mind though, some of this does require you paying up $1.99 to unlock everything. It’s worth it, though as the choices really do open up this way. Variety is handy as I found some sounds more relaxing than others. It’s a bit like picking out your favorite food, but for your ears.

Once you’ve created something you particularly like, you can easily save it as one of your favorites meaning you can soon return to it. Aligning things at the right distance can make quite the difference, as well as hearing how things change depending on if you’re listening through headphones or speakers.

Of course, ambient sound doesn’t work for everyone. If you’re one of those people who find any kind of sound distracting while you work, SoundShade isn’t a miracle worker. As a distraction from more monotonous sounds, such as construction work or the noise of your daily subway commute, however, it’s a serene escape - one that’s quick to arrange.